January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

I am back with another Flourishes Friday post. :-) Today the design team has pulled out an oldie but goodie set, Angelic Love. It's a perfect set for Valentine's Day greetings, and any other time you want to let someone know just how much they mean to you.

That's all, friends! I am off to warm, sunny CA in the morning to attend the semi-annual Craft & Hobby Association event. I can't wait to see all the yummy new goodies soon to be on the market, as well as meeting up with crafty friends old and new from all over the country. Good times for sure!

Have yourselves a fabulous week! I'll be back here next Friday morning to tell you all about my adventures.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Today's set, Love, Sweet Love, offers a sweet way to honor your Valentine. From a cookie bouquet to a beautiful box of chocolates, to a basket of flowers complete with a darling, heart-adorned love note, this set, illustrated by Marcella Hawley, is sure to warm your heart. This 4 by 6" set even comes with 3 beautifully scripted sentiments to tell your love just how you feel.

Would you like to win the Love, Sweet Love set? All you need to do is leave some love in the form of a comment on the blogs below! Why? You need to try to figure out….

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One of the ladies on our link list below will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win!

DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WIN OUR ENTIRE JANUARY RELEASE? Have you checked out Flourishes' New Year Challenge? Just click HERE to find out how to play! You can also play in the Noon Time Challenges! Check out yesterday’s noon time challenge – The Year of the Dragon Challenge. Or, how about the 2-0-1-2 Challenge HERE? All challenges will close this Friday at 5 PM EST.

It sure has been a fun release week, don't you think?! I know I've had a blast! Good luck to YOU in winning one or ALL of this month's sets!

Have a FANTASTIC Friday, friends! Thanks so much for spending a part of your day with me! :-)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

As we ring in the new year, let's be inspired by the numbers we'll use for the next 300 plus days! It's a limited supply challenge that revolves around 2012! So, here's your recipe: You can only use 2 colors. You can use 0 bling. You must use at least 1 embellishment and you can only have 2 layers! Let's see that creativity shine! If you upload to a gallery, please use the key word FLLCJAN12. Entries must be in before Friday, January 13th at 5PM EST.

For my card, I actually only used two layers, INCLUDING the card base...which just about killed me, I tell ya! My base card layer is a pretty raspberry color that I embossed with Cuttlebug's Paisley embossing folder. I also used my Scor Buddy to emboss a couple of lines on either side of the pattern, and finished it off with some faux stitching done with my White Opaque Pen. The adorable tiny hearts border and fantastic sentiment were made with Flourishes new Heartlines sentiment set. I colored in the words with my BG11 & BG13 Copic markers from the Water Collection. I used the BG13 to add polka dots to the letters.

It's day two of Flourishes sneak peeks, and we're continuing with the love-fest! ;-) Today's set is called Heartlines. It's the perfect sentiment set for sending a little love to a dear friend, whether it be on Valentine's Day or any other day of the year.

I chose to re-purpose a six-inch heart-shaped box I've had in my stash since last Valentine's Day. I pulled the cover apart, and traced the shape of the lid onto some pretty Picadilly patterned paper from Basic Grey. I then traced an identical shape onto Classic Ivory for the inside of the lid. I forgot to snap a photo; but I stamped that gorgeous heart image from the From the Heart image on the inside of the lid to dress it up a bit. Before I glued the layers together, I added some beautiful ruffled ivory ribbon around the edges to really dress it up. The luxurious Red Velvet Ribbon finished the look off perfectly. The bow is made with Solid Wrinkled Ivory Ribbon with a tiny red heart epoxy sticker in the center.I used the Spellbinders Classic Heart Nestabilities die (S4-136) and Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Heart Nestabilities Dies (S4-137) for the sentiment layers. I sponged on a bit of Soft Sky ink, and stamped the sentiment in Lady Bug ink from Memento.

It's difficult to tell in the photo above that it is, indeed, a box; so here's a slightly different view for you:

It was really quite a simple project to put together, and I'm quite pleased with the end result. Now to decide whom to give it to... ;-)

Are you ready for a chance to win this awesome stamp set? All you need to do is leave a comment on each of the designer's blogs because one of us is today's...

Remember that one of us will be picking a name from the comments you leave on today's blog post. We don’t know which one it is… so the more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win!

DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WIN OUR ENTIRE JANUARY RELEASE? Have you checked out our A New Year Challenge? Just click HERE to find out how to play! You can also play in our Noon Time Challenges this week!To do that, all you need to do is check back here today at noon! These fast-paced challenges are designed to spark creativity and give you another chance to win some wonderful goodies! All challenges will close this Friday at 5 PM EST and winners will be announced Saturday in our Winner’s Circle blog post! So get those fingers inky and good luck!

Can’t wait until all of our sets are revealed Friday morning? Well, you can pre-order them now if you like what you see on our designers’ blogs! Just click HERE. You’ll also see that we are offering our special New Release Bundle again – 10% off if you purchase all three stamp sets in one bundle!

Have yourself a FABULOUS morning, friends! I'll be back at 1pm EST for today's Noon Time Challenge.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, which begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013. So, what does this predict for 2012? Success and Happiness! To play, simply be inspired by the colors of this beautiful dragon with rich red, orangeand even pink. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLCJANRW1. You have until Friday, January 20th at 5 PM EST to enter. Once you are done with your creation, be sure to link up to the Flourishes blog post using the inlinkz widget. You need to do that in order to be eligible!

Here's my card:

Okay, so I went more pink than red or orange, but I must admit that I think this is my absolute favorite card I've made for this week's release. I definitely had the most FUN making this one! In addition to the gorgeous images from the From the Heart stamp set, I got to use one of Kaiser's Decorative Wood Bird Cages. Cool, isn't it?! I didn't even do a thing to it...no distressing or coloring or anything, cuz I love it just the way it is on this card. :-)

The beautiful patterned papers are from the appropriately-named A Happy Heart pad from My Mind's Eye. The image was embossed in white and colored in using Prima watercolor pencils. I haven't played with those babies in forEVER...too much fun! I used Gamsol and blending stumps to blend the colors together. Oh, I should mention that this was on done on kraft cardstock...love the deep, rich tones that resulted.

I'm so excited about today's Flourishes sneak peek! It feels so great to be stamping again, and I am head-over-heels about this stamp set. :-) The set, which was designed by the fabulous Becky Fleck, is called From the Heart. The possibilities with this one are just endless! Here's a little card I made with it:

DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD WIN OUR ENTIRE JANUARY RELEASE? Have you checked out our A New Year Challenge? Just click HERE to find out how to play! You can also play in our Noon Time Challenges this week!To do that, all you need to do is check back here Wednesday and Thursday at noon! These fast-paced challenges are designed to spark creativity and give you another chance to win some wonderful goodies! All challenges will close this Friday at 5 PM EST and winners will be announced Saturday in our Winner’s Circle blog post! So get those fingers inky and good luck!

Can’t wait until all of our sets are revealed Friday morning? Well, you can pre-order them now if you like what you see on our designers’ blogs! Just click HERE. You’ll also see that we are offering our special New Release Bundle again – 10% off if you purchase all three stamp sets in one bundle!

Have a fabulous morning, friends! See you back here at 1pm est for today's Noon Time Challenge!

Friday, January 06, 2012

Gosh, I haven't said that in a while, huh?! The last time I posted on here was just before Thanksgiving! I needed to take some time off to take a deeeeeep breath and spend time with my family. It has been a wonderfully blessed month (and a half), and I am ready to get back in the saddle again. :-)

Today, the Flourishes team has a fun challenge for you! Ring in the new year with “Father Time” or “Baby New Year” – this challenge is a fight between new and old! To be in the running, simply use a card that showcases an image of time (i.e. one of our calendars, the Moments in Time set) or one that showcases little baby new year i.e. a baby card. Either will get you in the running.

I chose to make a baby card using Flourishes adorable Baby Love stamp set.

It's not my favorite card I've ever made, or even a great photo (grabbed the wrong lens..duh). I do so love the sweet rocking chair and teddy bear images, though. I colored them using Flourishes Copic marker collections. The pearls, ribbon, and trims can be found in the Flourishes store as well. The card size is 5-1/4" square.

I promise to write a better post, take a better picture, and make a better card next time. I'm just glad I remembered how to do any of it at all! LOL